Traditionally, natural materials such as straw, saw dust, rice hulls, and grass have been used for bedding materials in animal stalls and like places where animals typically rest. Generally, these natural materials are readily available and can be relatively inexpensive. However, daily disposal and replacement of these natural materials are generally required in order to keep the stalls and the like at least somewhat sanitary. That is, because of soiling and saturation due to animal urine and fetes, at least partial, and sometimes total, replacement of these natural bedding materials is necessary on a daily basis. Inasmuch as each stall may require up to about 100 pounds of new bedding each day, the replacement and disposal of the soiled materials can become a problem for the user. Also, these natural materials are not reusable.
it is also known that natural materials such as straw and the like may generate and stir up dust and other microscopic debris when the animals trample on the straw. This dust and debris fills the air in the stalls which the animals breathe and may result in health problems for the animals.
Accordingly, in order to overcome these problems, substitutes for this natural bedding have been produced. For example, synthetic materials such as mats and cast floors have been introduced. However, some of these bedding systems tend to be easily destroyed by the animal's hoofs and tend to accumulate animal waste on their underside, causing still another disposal problem.
Thus, still other artificial bedding materials have been introduced. For example, Tucci U.S. Pat. No. 4,038,944 discloses an artificial, wholly synthetic bedding material for animals which is reusable and is used to facilitate the removal of animal excretory waste. The bedding material comprises a plurality of rigid, elongated pieces of a nonflammable, nontoxic, hydrophobic, impermeable synthetic plastic. More specifically, this patent proposes the use of stiff or non-flexible strands or fibers of plastic having circular cross-sections which preferably are made of nylon or polyethylene.
However, when these strands are used, care must be taken in arranging the strands in the stalls so that the strands do not protrude into or otherwise irritate the animal. Accordingly, care must be taken to position each of the pieces of plastic relatively parallel to the ground or bottom surface of the particular stall area. This is a time-consuming and arduous task that must be performed in order not to irritate or otherwise harm the animal using the bedding. Thus, rigid strands of thermoplastic resins having round cross-sections are not altogether suitable for bedding materials because of the potential for causing irritation and discomfort to the animals.
In addition to the discomfort problem, these hard strands having circular cross-sections may present a safety risk to the animals. For instance, horses as well as some other animals are generally reluctant to walk on any materials which do not provide a natural feel to them. The strands disclosed in Tucci U.S. Pat. No. 4,038,944 have hard circular cross-sections and thus, when a horse steps on these strands, the strands tend to slip and roll under the hoofs of the horse. Furthermore, these strands have been known to slip and roll over each other, generating a distinctive noise which is also disturbing to the horse. The combination of the unnatural feel of the hard strands and the unusual noise may disturb the horse so much that it will not enter the stall containing the artificial material or, in some instances, may try to jump away from the unnatural feeling material, causing the potential risk of injury.
Moreover, the length of the strands in Tucci U.S. Pat. No. 4,038,944 must vary depending on the size of the animal. This manipulation of the length of the strands is necessary to minimize discomfort to the animal due to the bedding materials tending not to conform to the shape of the particular animal. Thus, the length of the strands must be tailored to the particular animal in relation to its size.
Still further, although these strands can be reused several times, they eventually must be removed from the stall. Accordingly, disposal problems still exist when this material is used. Notably, these plastic pieces are not readily degradable, and therefore, unlike natural materials, do not simply degrade in sunlight. Moreover, these pieces are not biodegradable or compostable, and therefore, cannot simply be spread over agricultural fields to replenish and fertilize the ground. Still further, they are nonflammable and cannot be readily burned. Furthermore, government regulations are restricting the manner in which many products can be disposed because of contamination problems.
It is well known that some non-synthetic additives such as starch can facilitate the degradability of some synthetic resins when blended therewith. For example, Nishiyama et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,154,864 relates to a degradable sheet (not fibers) formed of cellulose, chitosan and an organic filler such as starch for use as packaging material and for certain farm products unrelated to animal bedding. Muller et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,166,232 relates to degradable plastic materials containing a blend of synthetic resin, starch and a component to facilitate degradability. Again, however, the disclosed blend is used to form novel films and molded articles such as packaging materials and agricultural mulch materials. Several other references also teach the blending of starch and a synthetic resin; however, none of them teaches or even suggests blending starch with a polymeric material to produce degradable, partially synthetic bedding.
Thus, a need has long existed for an inexpensive, dustless, reusable synthetic/non-synthetic animal bedding which is readily degradable upon exposure to sunlight or dry heat, and which is biodegradable and compostable. Importantly the novel bedding material has the appearance, feel and sound of a natural bedding material so that the animal will feel comfortable using the bedding.